Wrench.



No. 890,111. I PATENTED JUNE 9, 1908. F. E. WALDEN.

. a WRENCH.

APPLICATION IILBD APR. 26, 1906.

finial Invenlr,

M FrederidiEW Wden Attorney,

pryiTan sTaTns PATENT orricn FREDERICK E. WALDEN, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WALDEN MANU- FACTURING COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- CIIUSETTS.

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 9, 1908.

Application filed April 26, 1906. Serial No. 313,822.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK E. AL- DEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city and county of IVorcester, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have made certain new and useful Improvements in renches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is the c011- struction of a ratchet wrench capable of being sold at the lowest possible price, and to this end I form the same from two pieces of metal only, one of which composes one of the jaws, and the other the handle, pawl and the opposing member of the aws.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side view of a wrench made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross section of the same on the line XX in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line YY in Fig. 1.

V This wrench is designed for the purpose of fitting any of a large range of nuts and bolts,

and consists of a length of wire rod bent into three sections, one of which performs the function of fixed jaw, another of the handle, and the third of a spring pawl, and a movable jaw formed with longitudinally disposed ratchet teeth engaged by said pawl; the fixed and movable jaws being held at each of several distances apart by such engagement.

As illustrated, the movable jaw 20 is formed with a nut or bolt-engaging surface 21, and an arm 24 having ratchet teeth 25 along its inner surface. Through said movable member are two holes penetrated by two parallel sections 30, 32 of the wire rod, by which said. member is kept from turning while permitted free slidable motion. A portion 31 of said wire rod is formed as the fixed opposing member to the movable aw 20, while the terminal section 33 is bent over nearly parallel with the handle section 30 into resilient engagement with the teeth 25.

By giving the pawl-section a slight lateral bend so that it resiliently presses against a surface, here illustrated as the bar 26 extending from the end of the arm 23 to the end of the arm 2a, the pawl is prevented from slipping sidewise away from its engagement with the ratchet teeth.

As shown, the holes or openings for the rod-sections may be formed by bending the flanges 22 over said sections 30, 32 after the latter have been placed therein; such arrangement permitting the movable member to be punched or forged, or made as a malleable iron casting.

In using this wrench, the pawl 33 is pressed away from the handle section 30 until its end 34 is disengaged from the teeth 25, and the movable jaw 20 then moved along the sections 30, 32 until the distance between the surfaces 21, 31 properly accommodates the nut, bolt-head or other article to be manipulated. The pawl 33 is now released, and by its resilience engages the tooth 25 nearest thereto. Now as the wrench is operated, the pressure brings the nearest tooth back against the pawl-end 34; after which there is no further retreat of the movable aw, but the two jaws remain in fixed relative positions during the further movement of the wrench handle.

I/Vhen the wrench jaws are at a distance apart greater than the object to be embraced thereby, it is not necessary to press the pawl away from the handle section by hand, as the action of sliding the movable jaw toward the fixed one is not resisted by the pawl.

What I claim as my invention and for which I desire Letters Patent is as follows,

to wit;

1. The combination of a movable aw having suitable apertures therein, and a longitudinally arranged set of ratchet teeth, and a length of metal rod in three sections, one of which penetrates one of said apertures and forms the fixed jaw, the intermediate section of which penetrates the other of said apertures, and the other terminal section of which is bent over on said handle section into engagement with said teeth. a

2. The combination of a movable jaw having two apertures therein and a longitudinally arranged set of ratchet teeth, and a length of metal rod in three substantially parallel sections two of which penetrate said apertures and the other of which engages said teeth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invention, I have hereunto set my hand this I 

